Monique Booker
Monique Booker was a contestant on Season 14 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 14th place. Personality When she started, Monique immediately got on the wrong foot by serving pre-made food to Ramsay, and arguing about it. She also never acknowledged her short comings or mistakes, and would argue a lot with her teammates, especially with T. Season 14 Episode 1 On the bus ride to Hell's Kitchen, Monique made an insensitive remark when she asked Alison if she had a native language or spoke Rasta, much to T’s annoyance. When the chefs arrived at Hell's Kitchen, the doors were locked, and they noticed that Ramsay was on the roof. Then, he said that in order to see if the chefs were 100% committed, they would jump onto an air mattress from the roof. While she was more eager to jump after seeing Enrique and Ruth doing it, Ramsay revealed that it was not necessary as those two were stunt people, and asked the chefs to cook their signature dishes. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Monique was the ninth and final person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Bret. She made Mo's pasta, but when Ramsay asked her how she made the marinara sauce, she revealed that she used a jarred variant, causing Ramsay to spit his bite out. Then, she argued that Ramsay should have told her not to used pre-made sauce, but that annoyed everybody, and she scored only one point. The red team lost the challenge 28-31, and they were punished by resetting the dining room for the opening night, and sealing confirmation letters in envelopes. Back in the dorms, when she voiced out that they would beat the men on a regular night, T reminded her that they have yet to beat the men now, and how she served Ramsay jarred sauce while arguing about it. During the punishment, she did not appreciate Alison's leadership, and when she said that it sucked sealing invitations, T reminded her that if she had made her own sauce, they would not be doing it all night. During dinner service, Monique was on the meat station with Christine. Late into service, Meghan discovered that her oven was off the entire time, and later served raw lamb and dry pork. The red team lost the service, and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. Monique was the red team's first nominee for elimination, with Chrissa as the second, and they were called down with Christine. During her plea, she revealed that the oven was off the entire time, before admitting to have put the meat in the said oven. Then, she said that she was stronger than Christine as the latter fell apart, and Chrissa for having no confidence. She survived elimination, and believed that she was not going anywhere. Episode 2 Back in the dorms, Monique believed that their emotions were getting in the way of the service, but after Alison bluntly told her that she should have been the one eliminated, she said that she did not care. When the chefs received a 5 AM wake-up call from multiple alarm clocks, she said that she would rather prefer Ramsay yell at her all day than listen to the cuckoo clock. During the Crab Challenge, Monique was in a boat with Sarah, Alison, and Mieka during the first part, and they were seen grabbing a cage that had no crabs in it. During the second part, she was paired up with Christine, and they were seen getting two of their attempts approved. The red team won the challenge 10-7, and they were rewarded with a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, traveling through cactus trails by horseback, and a dinner at the Four Seasons Resort. She struggled to get on her horse as she hated them, and during dinner, she believed that their victory was the confidence boost they needed. During dinner service, Monique was on the appetizer station with T. At one point, she got offended when T did not what the hot appetizers to sink the kitchen as she knew how to make them, and accused the latter of having a big personality and a big mouth. Later, she claimed that she could feel Mieka’s nerves. The red team eventually won the service. Episode 3 The next day, Monique complained about the noise Sous Chef James made to wake them up, saw Ramsay on top of an arctic stage, and asked if she was back home, before asking what they were about to do. At one point, she annoyingly told Meghan that the fish was dead when the latter freaked out over the fish parts. She was paired with Mieka during part one, and they were seen struggling on finding the salmon head. They were the second pair from the red team to have their dishes judged, and they went up against Josh and Michael from the blue team. She made a pan-seared salmon with grilled asparagus, and while it was praised for having a nice color on the salmon, she did not score the point for the red team. The red team won the challenge 3-1, and they were rewarded with a trip to the Manhattan Beaches, got surfing lessons from surfer Anastasia Ashley, and eating lunch. During dinner service, Monique was on the fish station with Alison. Despite believing that her scallops were fine, Ramsay saw that they were rubbery, and had the red team touch them. Then, she called out Alison for making a bitch move by outing her for the scallops, and she called her and her accent stupid.After the red team got kicked out of the kitchen, she got pissed, and said that she wanted to punch some bitches. Both team's were named joint-losers, and were asked to nominate two people each. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 4 During the American Classics Challenge, Monique was paired with Sarah on the spaghetti, and her dish was not chosen to be judged. The red team eventually won the challenge after a tie breaker at 4, and they were rewarded with a trip to Long Beach, and rode on the historic American Pride yacht. During the Family Night dinner service, Monique was on the meat station with Mieka. Despite being being confident as she was on meat before, she sent up undercooked Wellington’s, and Ramsay accused her of not caring. Despite that, she managed to get her refire accepted. The red team lost the service, and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Monique tied to argue that she got her shit together, but T yelled that she did not, and was nominated by the latter and Alison. When the red team planned on nominating Sarah along with her to get rid of her, she argued that she would not give up. Monique was the red team's first nominee, with Sarah as the second. After Michelle gave out reasons why the two were nominated, she called it crazy, when Ramsay asked for her opinion, she revealed the red team’s strategy on how they were trying to get her out, and that she knew it was his decision in the end. During her plea, Ramsay called her performance dreadful, but she argued that she was growing stronger every day. She survived elimination, and while going back to the dorms, she called the women delusional, and declared that she was not going home. Episode 5 While going back to the dorms, Monique declared that she was fucking done with the red team as, despite feeling that Ramsay was seeing something in her, her teammates were not. When Meghan tried to ask her what her problem was, she refused to be open as it was a competition, and the entire red team left her alone, with T deeming her a lost cause. During the International Cheese Challenge, Monique competed against Nick from the blue team, their dish was grilled cheese. During the cooking, she decided to keep her grilled cheese simple and hoped that Ramsay would like it, but Alison felt that it was not very creative. She was the first person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay, and presented her mild cheddar and brie grilled cheese. However, Ramsay criticized the dish for having more bread than cheese, lacking creativity, and she lost that round to Nick. The red team eventually won the challenge 5-4, and they were rewarded with a trip to Marina Del Ray and got to Jet Ski on the ocean. During dinner service, Monique was on the garnish station. Despite Meghan and T asking her for a time, she did not appreciate, and when she brought up her spinach, Ramsay found out that not only was it cold, but it was lacking any seasoning, and had the red team taste it. Later, she sent up her garnish refire, but Ramsay saw that the eggplant was raw and bitter, and an annoyed T called her performance a shit show. After, Meghan came to help her, and it was thanks to the former that she was able to send up perfect garnishes. The red team lost the service, and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, T called Monique out as one of the three people that sunk the red kitchen, and Sarah said that she herself was a better chef than her and Christine. When she tried to argue that Christine should be nominated as a reality check, Alison retorted that she herself could not cook half of the menu items, and that she would have struggled even more without Meghan’s help. Monique was named the first nominee for the red team, with Sarah as the second. During her plea, she argued that the red team would yell at her despite doing what the red team told her to, said that Christine should be nominated for being the reason the red team got kicked out of service, and was confused as to why she herself was nominated. Then, she denied being the weakest link and that she wanted to be with Ramsay. She was eliminated for her string of poor performances, not improving from her mistakes, and the red team making it clear that they do not want her around any longer. During her exit interview, she believed that the red team had it out for her since the beginning, refused to change her ways if given a second chance, and denied being the weakest chef. Ramsay's comment: "Monique acted like she was the victim, but the real victim was anyone who had to eat her food tonight." Nomination history Trivia *She is the fifth contestant who used pre-made food for her signature dish, following Rock (Season 3), Salvatore (Season 7), Jonathon (Season 9), and Mike (Season 12). She is also the second who did and talked back about it, as well as the first female contestant who did. *After her appearance on the show, she returned to her old job at Rialto and is currently a Lead Line Cook for ‎Compass Group. Quotes *"At one occasion we're gonna whoop their ass, the guys aren't that great!" *(To Alison) "So do you have your own language, or is it just Rasta?" Category:Chef Category:Season 14 Category:Donkeys